Charlie May finds himself behind the eight ball in Saturday’s $200,000 Battle of Lake Erie for older pacers at MGM Northfield Park, but the 5-year-old gelding is no stranger to overcoming disadvantageous spots at the northern Ohio half-mile oval. In fact, he’s pretty much made a habit of it. Charlie May and driver Brett Miller will begin the Battle from post eight, the outermost position on the starting gate and the worst spot, statistically, in terms of win percentage at Northfield (4.8 percent).
Tag: Ken Weingartner
Readly Success impresses in 2-year-old races at Gaitway Farm
Readly Success was ready for success Monday when Gaitway Farm hosted its first qualifiers for 2-year-olds and might have earned a trip to Kentucky in the process. A 2-year-old female trotter, Readly Success captured the day’s opening qualifier in 1:59 for trainer Julie Miller and driver Andy Miller.
Stonebridge Helios draws Svanstedt praise
It is not often Ake Svanstedt can do something he’s never done before, but that might be the case Saturday (June 3) at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Svanstedt could have the race-time betting favorite in a Grand Circuit pacing race for the first time in his training career. Long known for his prowess with trotters, first during a Hall of Fame career in his native Sweden and bolstered since arriving in the U.S. by two Hambletonian wins and five Dan Patch Award trophies, Svanstedt will send out 2-1 morning-line choice Stonebridge Helios in Saturday’s first of two C$66,500 divisions of the Graduate Series for 4-year-old pacers.
Gutnick hopes to enjoy Dire Straits
Dire Straits has found himself in some difficult spots at times, but it has done nothing to diminish owner Richard Gutnick’s opinion of his homebred trotter. After all, Gutnick is well aware that in racing there is no such thing as money for nothing. A multiple state-bred stakes-winner last year, Dire Straits is one of nine Hambletonian-eligible horses in Friday’s $240,000 New Jersey Sire Stakes championship for 3-year-old male trotters at The Meadowlands. The colt, with David Miller driving for trainer Mattias Melander, will start from post nine in the field of 10.
Fourever Boy no ‘kid’ anymore
Tim Twaddle saw steady improvement from Fourever Boy throughout the horse’s first two seasons of racing, and the trainer hopes that trend continues in 2023 as his 4-year-old stallion works toward facing the sport’s top older pacers later in the campaign. Fourever Boy, a multiple Grand Circuit winner and 2022 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes champion, has earned $842,888 in his career for owners Twaddle and Micki Rae Stables. The horse already has a big win this season, capturing the $193,880 Charles Juravinski Memorial Cup for 4-year-old male pacers May 21 at Flamboro Downs.
Take All Comers to take on Maxie Lee foes
Take All Comers will make his seasonal debut in Sunday’s (May 28) $100,000 Maxie Lee Memorial Invitational for older trotters at Harrah’s Philadelphia, and the 5-year-old gelding has already improved from last year in one regard. He will begin the race from a favorable starting point.
Through the decades with David Miller
Thirty years ago in 1993, David Miller was the recipient of the U.S. Harness Writers Association’s Rising Star Award. Ten years later in 2003, he received his first Driver of the Year Award after guiding No Pan Intended to the Pacing Triple Crown and Horse of the Year honors. A decade from there in 2013, he was elected to the Harness Racing Hall of Fame. And now in 2023, Miller became the sixth driver in history to reach 14,000 lifetime victories. To celebrate that accomplishment, the 58-year-old Miller recently took the time to look back at those landmark seasons that helped shape his career.
Hall of Fame trotter CR Kay Suzie, 31, dies
Hall of Fame female trotter CR Kay Suzie, a multiple Dan Patch Award winner including Horse of the Year in 1995, passed away Tuesday morning in Ocala, Fla., owner Rod Allen said today. She was 31.
Venerate set to step out for Melander
Five-year-old male trotter Venerate, a Dan Patch Award winner in 2020 at the age of 2, will make his seasonal debut for new trainer Marcus Melander when he meets 10 rivals in Saturday’s $155,200 Arthur J. Cutler Memorial at The Meadowlands.
Double milestones special to Kakaley
When Matt Kakaley decided he wanted to pursue a career as a harness racing driver, that was his only focus. The numbers Kakaley has amassed since he won his first race in 2006, though, provide an opportunity for the 35-year-old to reflect on fulfilling his career objective. On Tuesday (May 16), Kakaley recorded his 6,000th victory. Two days earlier, he surpassed $100 million in purses.